TikTok evangelists hit MNSU campus
Christian evangelists and newly famous TikTok sensations Sister Cindy and Brother Jed made their annual visit to Minnesota State University, Mankato to preach inflammatory messages to an onlooking crowd of students Wednesday afternoon.
Jed Smock, known by most as “Brother Jed”, is the leader of Campus Ministry USA, an organization that travels to college campuses across the country to preach their message to students.
Brother Jed, based out of Indiana, has been traveling and speaking at campuses for over 5 decades. His wife, Cindy Smock, commonly known as “Sister Cindy”, has been accompanying him for 4 of those decades.
Sister Cindy has recently gone viral on TikTok for her extravagant and unique style of preaching which includes a new tagline.
“My slogan is ‘be a ho no mo’” said Sister Cindy, who went on to explain the reasoning behind the usage, “Its about more than sex. Being a ‘ho’ is committing any kind of sin.”
Equipped with her new slogan written on her tee-shirt, Sister Cindy and Brother Jed took to the Memorial Library lawn yesterday, hoping to sway students to their belief system.
Before going viral, the organization relied heavily on antagonizing messages to muster up a crowd of college students, but now, drawing such a crowd has gotten easier.
“It all seemed to change back in March when Cindy went viral on TikTok.” said Brother Jed “Now, all of the sudden people are waiting for us when we come to campus.”
Students, on the other hand, attended the gathering with hopes of entertainment, rather than religious fulfillment.
Kye Hanson, a student living in the dorms, was drawn to the crowd when he heard a commotion outside of his dorm window.
“She had a lot of likes on TikTok, and I thought it was kind of funny.” said Hanson, who quickly ran down to see them in action.
Bella Watts, a student at MNSU, also attended the gathering for the entertainment value.
“I’ve always seen them on social media and thought it would be funny to come watch them.” said Watts, “It’s weird because you can’t tell if its satire or if it’s something that they actually believe.”
Student Jillian Brenner had a good time listening to Sister Cindy, but was less excited to listen to Brother Jed’s teachings.
“It was just uncomfortable when he was up there.” said Brenner, noting her discomfort due to Brother Jed’s misogynistic rhetoric, “He was talking about women’s bodies.”
Brother Jed stands by that while his teachings might be viewed as silly and provoke anger from the crowd, that it leads to the growth of his listeners.
“A lot of people come out to be entertained and make their jokes,” said Brother Jed, “but over dinner tonight or whatever they are doing in their dorm, they will talk about what they observed here.”